Wiktionary

lean

See also: Lean, léan, and Léan

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-.

Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Middle Dutch leunen (“to lean”), German lehnen (“to lean”); via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.

Verb

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lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned or (UK) leant)

  1. (intransitive) To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
    a leaning column
    She leaned out of the window.
  2. (copulative) To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
    I’m leaning towards voting Conservative in the next election.
    The Hispanic vote leans Democratic.
    • a. 1600, Edmund Spenser, “A View of the State of Ireland. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Edmund Spenser, volume VI, London: Jacob Tonson […], published 1715, →OCLC, page 1518:
      But you ſay they do not accept of them, but delight rather to lean to their old Cuſtoms and Brehon Laws, though they be more unjuſt and alſo more inconvenient for the common People, as by your late Relation of them I have gathered.
  3. (Followed by against, on, or upon) To rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.
  4. To hang outwards.
  5. To press against.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 533, lines 1187–1188:
      Oppreſs'd with Anguiſh, panting, and o'reſpent, / His fainting Limbs against an Oak he leant.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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lean (plural leans)

  1. (of an object taller than its width and depth) An inclination away from the vertical.
    The trees had various leans toward gaps in the canopy.
Synonyms
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  • (inclination away from vertical): tilt
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English lene (“lean”), from Old English hlǣne (“lean”), (cognate with Low German leen), perhaps from hlǣnan (“to cause to lean (due to hunger or lack of food)”), from Proto-Germanic *hlainijaną (“to cause to lean”). If so, then related to Old English hlinian, hleonian (“to lean”).

Adjective

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lean (comparative leaner, superlative leanest)

  2. (of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.
    • 2024 January 5, ZacharyFurr, “Gym types”, in The In Constant Chronicles‎[1]:
      They will now dedicate several hours at the gym every day to be leaner and stronger.
    Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
  3. (of meat) Having little fat.
    lean steak cuts
    • 2007, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Penguin, →ISBN, page 34:
      The butcher and the porkman painted up only the leanest scrags of meat; the baker, the coarsest of meagre loaves.
  4. Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
    Synonyms: insufficient, scarce, sparse; see also Thesaurus:inadequate
    a lean budget
    a lean harvest
  5. Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.
    Synonyms: deficient, dilute, poor
    Antonym: rich
    A lean ore hardly worth mining.
    Running on too lean a fuel-air mixture will cause, among other problems, your internal combustion engine to heat up too much.
  6. (printing, archaic) Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
    lean copy, matter, or type
  7. (business) Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing".
    lean management
    lean manufacturing
    Alcoa is now a lean and agile enterprise, after having split last year into two entities.
    • 2007, Richard J. Schonberger, Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement, page 204:
      Kitting for in-plant handling is unlean. Kitting for transport, on the other hand, is lean; for example, shipping complete sets of parts to make a TV or motorcycle or motor home is lean.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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lean (countable and uncountable, plural leans)

  1. (uncountable) Meat with no fat on it.
    • 1639, or earlier, Anon: Jack Sprat:
      Jack Sprat would eat no fat, / His wife would eat no lean.
  2. (countable, biology) An organism that is lean in stature.
    • 1986, Southwest Fisheries Center (U.S.), Collected Reprints (issue 1)
      The intermediates and leans are the predominant morphotypes found at the SE-NHR seamounts […]
    • 2012, Obesity: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional, page 56:
      Obese Zuckers, compared to leans, consumed more food under free-feeding conditions.

Verb

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lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

  2. To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.
    Synonyms: derich, disenrich
    Antonym: enrich
    • 1938 July, Harold Blaine Miller, Dupont Miller, “Weather Hop”, in Boys' Life‎[2], Boy Scouts of America, →ISSN, page 25:
      He leaned the mixture in an effort to cause a backfire through the carburetor, the generally accepted method of breaking the ice loose.
    • 2002 July, Tom Benenson, “Can Your Engine Run Too Lean?”, in Flying‎[3], volume 129, number 7, →ISSN, page 73:
      Even the Pilot's Operating Handbooks (POH) for our training airplanes add to our paranoia with their insistence that we not lean the mixture until we're above 5000 feet density altitude.

Etymology 3

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From Icelandic leyna? Akin to German leugnen (“deny”). Compare lie (“speak falsely”).

Verb

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lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

  1. To conceal.[1]

References

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  1. ^ 1674, John Ray, A Collection of English Words Not Generally Used

Etymology 4

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Probably from the verb to lean (see etymology 1 above), supposedly because consumption of the intoxicating beverage causes one to "lean". Alternatively, possibly short for gasoline (“an alcoholic beverage made of vodka and energy drink”).

Noun

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lean (uncountable)

  1. (slang, US) A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, especially popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.
    Synonyms: sizzurp, syrup, purple drank
    • 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown‎[4], performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:
      Eyes real tight 'cause I'm chokin' the creep; vision messed up 'cause I'm drinkin' the lean.
    • 2020, “Those Kinda Nights”, in Music to Be Murdered By, performed by Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran:
      "What's in the cup, let me see that / Girl, where the rest of that promethazine at?" / She said, "Cool, gotta run out to my Cadillac though / And I'll be like Fat Joe, and bring the lean back"

See also

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References

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Anagrams

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Galician

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Verb

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lean

  1. inflection of ler:
    1. third-person plural present subjunctive
    2. third-person plural imperative
  2. third-person plural present indicative of lear

Irish

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Etymology

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From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“to stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin linō (“anoint”), līmus (“mud, slime”), Sanskrit लिनाति (lināti, “sticks, stays”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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lean (present analytic leanann, future analytic leanfaidh, verbal noun leanúint, past participle leanta)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) to follow
  2. to continue
    Leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh.
    I will continue on.
  3. to remain
  4. to endure

Conjugation

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conjugation of lean (first conjugation – A)
singular plural relative autonomous
first second third first second third
indicative present leanaim leanann tú;
leanair† 		leanann sé, sí leanaimid leanann sibh leanann siad;
leanaid† 		a leanann; a leanas leantar
past lean mé; leanas lean tú; leanais lean sé, sí leanamar; lean muid lean sibh; leanabhair lean siad; leanadar a lean /
ar lean* 		leanadh
past habitual leanainn leantá leanadh sé, sí leanaimis; leanadh muid leanadh sibh leanaidís; leanadh siad a leanadh /
a leanadh* 		leantaí
future leanfaidh mé;
leanfad 		leanfaidh tú;
leanfair† 		leanfaidh sé, sí leanfaimid;
leanfaidh muid 		leanfaidh sibh leanfaidh siad;
leanfaid† 		a leanfaidh; a leanfas leanfar
conditional leanfainn leanfá leanfadh sé, sí leanfaimis; leanfadh muid leanfadh sibh leanfaidís; leanfadh siad a leanfadh /
a leanfadh* 		leanfaí
subjunctive present go leana mé;
go leanad† 		go leana tú;
go leanair† 		go leana sé, sí go leanaimid;
go leana muid 		go leana sibh go leana siad;
go leanaid† 		— go leantar
past dá leanainn dá leantá dá leanadh sé, sí dá leanaimis;
dá leanadh muid 		dá leanadh sibh dá leanaidís;
dá leanadh siad 		— dá leantaí
imperative leanaim lean leanadh sé, sí leanaimis leanaigí;
leanaidh† 		leanaidís — leantar
verbal noun leanúint
past participle leanta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form

  • Alternative verbal noun: leanacht (Cois Fharraige)

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 84

Further reading

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Northern Sami

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Pronunciation

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  • (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈlea̯n/

Verb

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lean

  1. inflection of leat:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. past indicative connegative

Old English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-West Germanic *laun.

Cognates
Cognate with Old Frisian lān, Old Saxon lōn, Old High German lōn, Old Norse laun, and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (laun). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek λεία (leía) (from *λαϝία), Latin lucrum, Old Church Slavonic ловъ (lovŭ) (Russian лов (lov)), Old Irish lóg, Lithuanian lãvinti.

Noun

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lēan n

  1. reward
Declension
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Declension of lēan (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative lēan lēan
accusative lēan lēan
genitive lēanes lēana
dative lēane lēanum
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Proto-West Germanic *lahan. Cognate with Old Saxon lahan, Old High German lahan, Old Norse lá, Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌽 (laian).

Verb

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lēan

  1. (transitive) to blame, fault, reproach
Conjugation
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Conjugation of lēan (strong class 6)
infinitive lēan lēanne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular lēa lōg, lōh
second person singular liehst lōge
third person singular liehþ lōg, lōh
plural lēaþ lōgon
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular lēa lōge
plural lēan lōgen
imperative
singular leah
plural lēaþ
participle present past
lēande (ġe)læġen, (ġe)lagen, (ġe)leġen
Descendants
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  • Middle English: *lēen (attested in past tense lough)

Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin linō (“anoint”), Sanskrit लिनाति (lināti, “sticks, stays”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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lean (past lean, future leanaidh, verbal noun leantainn or leanmhainn, past participle leanta)

  1. follow
  2. continue, proceed
    An lean an droch aimsir? ― Will the bad weather continue?

Derived terms

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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈlean/ [ˈle.ãn]
  • Rhymes: -ean
  • Syllabification: le‧an

Verb

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lean

  1. inflection of leer:
    1. third-person plural present subjunctive
    2. third-person plural imperative

West Frisian

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian lān, from Proto-West Germanic *laun. Cognate with Old English lēan.

Noun

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lean n (plural leanen, diminutive leantsje)

  1. wage, wages, salary
  2. reward

Further reading

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  • “lean”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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